Arty/Ranger multiclassing?

[mournbladereigns]

The epic hellfire crossbow is available if you purchase the devils assault pack with the chronoscope raid.

I am a big fan of 6 rangers if only to extend pbs an extra 10 meters. That is a significant dps boost from further away. Kensai is a solid choice and many prefer kensai over ranger. I like what ranger brings to the table though.

+6 Damage to Constructs and Evil Outsiders = this will cover raiding
+2 Damage from rams might
25 Meter PBS Range = this is significant, pbs doubles your based damage and the further you can start doubling your damage the better
Ranger Sprint Boost = zoom zoom
Sniper Shot = not amazing, but +1 crit range and multiplier every 10 seconds
Manyshot = Even without a high str, swapping to an epic thornlord for manyshot and then back x-bows will be a significant dps boost

^THIS^

DWS shot PBS extension is a major advantage on ranged builds, that extra 10 meters over base PBS gives you a lot more maneuvering room and reduces DPS dips when kiting.. The bonus dmg for FE's/Rams Might, and manyshot is nice dps boost.

[DarkShaolin]

I like the idea of a ranged Arty Elven AA switching to bows for manyshot. Even without a high strength, the dps is still respectable during manyshot.

Not knowing exactly what Arty brings to the table at high levels, I cannot even begin to draw up a build yet. It seems like you lose a lot by not maxing Arty from what I have read so far. The pet alone almost seems to make it worth considering taking him to cap.

I also like the idea of taking Mechanic I for the intelligence boost for crossbows.

What type of magic effects does Arty have?

Healing should not be too much of an issue with a high UMD.

i would just drop the elven AA part i switched to going warforged and that make healing easy with this spec..between rogue mechanic 1 and its repair ability and repair damage spell line from artificer..but always could carry a eternal wand of minor healing ..its 50 charges.. and it crits alot which crits heal normally 2 damage per use but warforged still gets 1 point healing on crits from wand, which is often. It carries 50 charges, and recharge 1 charge every 3 or 4 secs, so is like renewable healing potion(s). Also if you want better positive healing ability just invest in the warforged healers friend line of enhancements+ blood enchant on docent( adds another 10% to postive healing(, but sacrificing 10% repair damage healing) brings you to a total of receiving 85% positive healing, and 90% repair damage healing, or 75% positive healing, and 100% repair damage healing without blood enchant on docent. Me personally though am going with the 75% positive energy healing and 100% repair damage healing and put fearsome/reinforced plating enchant on docent.

Warforged really does seem to be the way to go with this spec , the weaknesses of it healing less with positive energy is a bonus when you consider that it heals great from mechanic rogue ability and from artificer repair damage spells, and the +2 con and many immunities is a good trade off for losing +2 wis/chr considering those are not worth while stats for the spec. the biggest downside so far though from the lowered stats in wis is that your will save is near useless, but that can be compensated by with gear later on.

It as ranged specialized isn't really an issue either.. with a repeating heavy xbow and some talents to speed up attack and reload speed on xbows it is about the same as fighting melee with its 3 rounds burst. after testing this out so far with just rogue mechanic 1 so far, and decent armor /damage resistance, going toe to toe with a repeating heavy xbow I've had no issues. and fighting toe to toe with rogue repair ability active is fun .. i feel like a troll with its regeneration ability. lol